Peter
Rowanoski is the only German member of the Snapdragon & Mirage Association
and recently he sent me an article he wrote about his new Mirage 28 and the
first sailtrips he had with her. I'm glad to present it here, so here it is:

"Last
year we became owners of a Mirage 28 Mk 2, built in 1980. The boat was in
general in a good condition, but the colour of the hull was a bit rotten and the
lining of the saloon and the focísle was even worse. But it did for the first
season to get used to the boat.

The
boat was Ė and is - moored in the Baltic in a small marina in Kirchdorf on the
island Poel north of
Wismar
. We had a superb summer concerning the temperatures, a bad one concerning the
smell of diesel gas leaving the exhaust. But it was a good time for my wife
Nicolette, who is a greenhorn in sailing to get used to living aboard and
learning how to manoeuvre. And I must say Ė she did very well. All in all it
was, as usual,to short a season and
in the end of September the boat went into winterís sleep, disturbed only by
two workers of the local wharf who replaced the original interior lining. And
they made a very good and professional job. It looks as good as new.

We
decided to repaint the complete hull and after I got some useful information
from Vin Senatore and Mike Shepherd I started prepairing the old colour in the
end of March. My friend Reinhart Lux and I needed one weekend to do that,
another to applicate the new paint: Royal Blue. After that the boat got itís
new name:
Landís End
.

After that was done,
Landís End
looked ten years younger. Itís moored again since 30th of April
and we are looking forward to the new season with a bit more and steadier winds
(hopefully).

In
the meantime me and my wife were in SouthendĖon-Sea to visit my wifeís
parents and met Vin Senatore, whom weíd like to thank for a lovely afternoon
on
Canvey
Island
and a very interesting visit at his local sailing club. The
deal was a pint of Guiness for a report about my new old Mirage and Iím glad
to keep my promise.

A
week ago I sailed in gale force 5 to 6 in the inner parts of the
Bay
of
Wismar
(that means without waves) and Landís End did 6.4 knots at the GPS with only
the
Genoa
I set. It seems to be a reliable little boat and my confidence in her is
growing".